There are lots of solid therapeutic approaches to treating hypertension (high blood pressure), and they range in cost and complexity all the way from free and easy up to expensive and elaborate. While it might cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat a heart attack, it's much simpler and cheaper to focus on prevention through diet or medication -- plus monitoring blood pressure every day to make sure the plan is working as expected.
Cheap and easy sounds good, but getting it done is another matter. "When dealing with patients and asking them to make a lifestyle change, one of the biggest problems is compliance," says Dr. Andrew Brandeis, a San Francisco physician. "I can either give you a pill for your blood pressure or tell you to eat
